LANCASTER, Calif. – The University of California, Merced men's basketball came up short of a Southern California road trip sweep, losing to University of Antelope Valley 79-69 at the Pioneer Event Center on Saturday night.
With the setback, the Bobcats fell to 9-10 overall and 2-5 in the California Pacific Conference.
Junior Raphael Durr highlighted the night with a season-high 18 points in his first start as a Bobcat. The guard shot 66% (8-12) from the floor and also helped his teammates get in the scorebook with a season-high four assists.
Durr pitched in three steals and grabbed a pair of rebounds on the other end of the floor.
Ryan Haywood tallied 13 points and four assists, while Cole Taira scored eleven points and had a team-high two three-point makes.
Aside from Taira, five other Bobcats sunk at least one triple.
Nearly half of Taira's points came in the first two and a half minutes to stop UAV from gaining any home court momentum. His first of two triples narrowed a 10-4 deficit to 10-7.
Trailing 14-7, Haywood led a Bobcat 7-0 run to tie the game at 14. The score was also tied later in the half at 20-20, 24-24 and 26-26. The Bobcats held a pair of one point leads between the ties via an Andrew Williams triple and a Durr mid-range jumper.
With 6:11 left in the first half, UAV broke the 26-26 tie with a second chance bucket from the conference's leading scorer and rebounder, Christian Drayton. Drayton is the first Cal Pac player since 2011 to average a double-double.
The inside force's bucket was the first of a 19-4 run to end the half, putting the Pioneers up 45-30 at intermission.
Antelope Valley scored the first three points of the second half to extend their lead to a game-high 18 points at 48-30.
Aaron Laflin got those points back with a three-point field goal off an assist from Matt Laflin.
Later in the half, M. Laflin sunk a triple of his own to cut the deficit to 13 points, 58-45, with 13:06 to play.
However, the Bobcats trailed by at least ten points for the next eleven minutes.
Down the stretch, Haywood got the Bobcats within nine points, 73-64, with just under two minutes on the clock.
Antelope Valley outscored the Bobcats 6-5 in the final 90 seconds to seal the ten point victory. Saturday night's game marked the first double figure outcome in the last six games between these two conference foes.
Other notables include nine points and a steal from A. Laflin. Mason Westlake and Williams each had five points off the bench. Westlake also shared team-high with four rebounds.
Looking ahead, the Bobcats make a quick stop back home to take on Pacific Union College on Saturday, January 26, at 8:30pm.
